A Beautiful Mess
by Hey Two-Bit Mickey's On TV
Summary: What happens to an innocent girl when she gets involved with a no-good hood that even Dallas Winston himself wouldn't approve of? Meet Juliet Curtis and her abusive boyfriend of two years. When her brothers and friends find out the horrors of her relationship, they're forced to take action. Will it be too late? Dallas/OC  FORMERLY NAMED "Don't Look Back"
1. Chapter 1

_**IMPORTANT**__: Hey everyone, __**for those of you who are new to the story, it used to be called "Don't Look Back"**__**For those who aren't new, there weren't any major changes in the story**__ but I'd still encourage you to start from the beginning. SO SORRY for the inconvenience but I hope that you will find that this "improved version" is better. Enjoy!_

Alright, where should I start? Well, my name is Juliet Rosaline Curtis. It's a pretty normal name. Go figure! (My mom named me) I forget where she got it from though. I think it was a book but I can't guarantee it. She was like Ponyboy: a dreamer.

I'm 16. Some people don't know this, but Sodapop is my twin. You would never know though because we don't look like each other, but that's because we're fraternal twins. In fact, we couldn't be more different.

For instance, he's talkative, attractive, has lots of friends, and happy-go-lucky. I on the other hand, like to remain in the background and don't particularly like being in big groups. I like to think of Soda as 'my other half' though.

I have long auburn hair, and hazel eyes. It's funny though, because of the way I look and act, people usually mistake me for Pony's twin rather then Soda's. What else is there to say? Hmmm… I'm usually quiet around people I don't know.

My brothers and the gang mean the world to me, so does my boyfriend, Mark. Surprisingly everyone likes him okay (which is a major relief I have to say) I feel different around Mark, I feel a little…a little rebellious. But hey, what do you expect for a girl who spends her whole life around greasers?

I'm planning on sneaking out to meet Mark tonight. I'm really nervous though because I'm not one to break the rules but Mark says that I'm a teenager and that's what I'm supposed to do. I'm not so scared about doing it rather than just me getting caught. I mean what would Darry say?

I respect Darry an awful lot, especially since our parents died. It broke my heart that he couldn't go to college because he had to take care of us. I'm not really doing him any favors by sneaking out tonight. On the other hand though, I would like to spend some time with my boyfriend. Sodapop gets to go out at with Sandy after all. So what's the big deal?

I spent what felt like hours getting ready and trying to calm down and tell myself 'this is normal, all teenagers sneak out. You'll be fine, you won't get caught'. It was about 12 A.M. When everyone was finally in bed and I decided to go out the window.

Mark and I agreed on meeting each other at the park. When I got there, I saw him pacing. He looked pretty stressed and pissed. His fists were clenched and his jaw was set firmly in place.

"Mark? Are you okay?" His head snapped up and before I knew it, I felt a harsh sting of pain slide across my face. Did he just? No! But why? I was completely shocked. I had NEVER been hit before, much less by a guy.

Maybe if I just go away and give him time to cool off then everything will be fine. I slowly started to back away but he grabbed my wrists in a split second, preventing me from going anywhere. Well this was starting to hurt a little.

"Ow! Can you st-"

"Shut up!"

I had a feeling this wasn't going to turn out well. Several punches, kicks, and slaps later, I was out cold. All I could remember was waking up in the middle of the park all alone, thinking about how much my face, stomach, and side ached.

It was still dark out, so thankfully that meant I haven't been out all night and there might still be a chance that I could sneak back in without my brothers noticing. I tiredly limped back home. As soon as I got to my bed I fell asleep. I was way too tired and weak to get myself cleaned up or get dressed.

The next morning I heard Soda yell, "Julie come on, time to get up!" Groaning, I rubbed my eyes. Bad idea, they hurt. Great, there's probably a bruise on them or something. I heard Sodapop's footsteps coming closer to my room.

Oh shoot! He can't see me like this! He'll blow a gasket! I've got to hide or something! Too late. I heard the door creak open to reveal a smiling Sodapop Curtis. Well he WAS smiling until he saw my face.

"What the hell happened to your face?"

"Shhhh, be quiet Soda, they'll hear you!"

"No! No, I won't be quiet. What happened?"

Then I heard Darry, "Sodapop Curtis what are you yelling about this early in the morning?"

"Darry come look for yourself!"

Great, just great. What am I supposed to tell them? That I snuck out at 12 last night to see my boyfriend and then he freaked out and beat me till I was unconscious, then left me in the park by myself at Lord-knows what time? Ya right. I'd rather tell them that I was abducted by flesh-eating aliens then tell them the real story.

Darry walked in my room, still annoyed about all the yelling.

"Sodapop, what is the mat-" his sentence was cut short when he looked at me.

"Jules, what the hell happened?" I just shrugged and said, "I don't know."

"What do you mean that you don't know?" I shrugged again.

"Lord help me Julie, if you don't tell me what happened I'll ground you for a month!"

"Well go ahead and ground me, it's not like I have a life!" I yelled and got up to go to the bathroom to inspect the damage. It was worse than I thought. No wonder they freaked out. I had a black eye, busted lip, some places on my face were bright red, and I had dried blood all on the whole left side of my cheek.

I sighed and reached for the first aid kit, but then groaned when I realized that it wasn't there. I left it in the living room when I was patching up Dally after he fought with Tim Shepherd. This wasn't going to be fun because I knew everyone was in the living room.

I opened the bathroom door and walked in the living room. Sure enough, everyone was there, watching T.V. as usual. It was going well, and I was going unnoticed until Two-bit opened his mouth and said,

"O t!" I gave him a look as if I were saying, 'What'd you do that for?' Everyone's eyes immediately went wide and I had no idea how I was going to explain this. As I was about to retreat to the bathroom, we heard a knock come from the door. Then it opened and Mark walked in. There were scratches on his face but that's it.

"Hey listen Jul, sorry for about last night. It kind of got out of hand. I've just been going through a lot of shit lately and I don't know, I just took it out on you."

I wasn't sure what to say. I just looked down at the floor, ashamed of what my brothers would think.

"IT WAS YOU?" Soda yelled. Mark gave a confused look.

"I-I thought she told you?" he looked at me but I looked away. I was a little scared of what was going to happen next. But you can put two and two together. One boy + Seven very pissed off greasers= trouble.

Next thing I knew Mark was being chased out of the house by everyone! Including Johnny! I have to stop them! I mean ya, I'm mad at Mark but I don't want him to die, going out with a kid for 2 years will do that to you.

No matter how much I try to avoid it, I just can't help that I love him. I know, love sucks. I watched the gang chase him down the street and freaked out. I did the only thing that I thought I could. Call Tim Shepherd.

You know what they say, drastic times call for drastic measures. I ran over to the phone and dialed the number.

RING..RING..RING..

"Hello?"

"Hi is this Tim?"

"No this is Curly who's this?"

"It's Julie-"

"Ohhhh Julie, what can I do you for? Maybe I can take you out on a date sometime or someth-"

"Curly! This is no time for you to 'bust a move', put Tim on the phone please!"

"Pfttt fine…"

"Julie?"

"Ya Tim, I'm in trouble and I need help, see my brothers and the gang are chasing my boyfriend around the whole freaking state of Oklahoma! Do you think you can break this up for me pleaseeee. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Haha, sure Jules."

"Thanks! I owe you big time!"


	2. Chapter 2

My brothers and friends came home about an hour later.

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"The little punk got away, but we'll get him next time." Steve answered.

I sighed. I really don't want them to hurt him but what am I supposed to say? I can't tell them that I still have feelings for him; they'll think I'm crazy. Maybe this is for the best though. If I try to avoid him then maybe I'll 'fall out of love' with him.

So it's settled, I'll avoid him and give him some space…or at least try. I spent the rest of that night crying. For what? Everything. Crying for my parents, crying because I didn't know how I was going to explain this to everyone at school, crying because it hurt, crying because I'm scared, and crying because I'm in love.

Morning came much sooner than I would've liked and for the first time in a long time, I was actually scared to go to school. I stayed up all night last night thinking of what I was going to say if people asked me and I still have nothing.

I went to the bathroom and started getting ready. When I looked in the mirror I was happy to see that some of the swelling went down, but disappointed to see that the bruise looked like it got worse. And my blood-shot eyes didn't help my appearance much either.

I sighed and continued to get ready. When I was finished, I went to the kitchen to get breakfast. Darry was sitting at the table drinking coffee. He looked up at me with sympathetic eyes and said,

"Ya know, you don't have to go to school today Jules, I know this'll be hard for you."

"It's okay Dar, if I miss today then it'll just make it harder for me to go tomorrow. I'd rather just get it over with."

"Well okay, but if there's any problems just go to the office and have them call me." He said as he finished his coffee then left, but not before he gave me a reassuring smile and a kiss on my forehead.

I decided to eat some breakfast until Steve showed up because I'm getting a ride from him to school today. *HONK HONK* I guess that's him.

"Pony, Soda, he's here!" Soda stumbled out of the hallway followed by Pony. They both gave me a smile and we left.

My stomach was turning the whole ride there and I was getting nervous. I was really dreading going to first period 'cause that's where he is. We all got out of the car and started going our own ways but then Steve pulled my arm back,

"If he gives you any trouble just let me know." I nodded and left.

When I got to first period, biology, my teacher announced that we would get with our partners and dissect a frog. I gulped because Mark was my partner. Time to face the music. Be strong, Julie, be strong.

I sat next to him and avoided making eye contact with him. I quietly started working on the project. He put his arm on my shoulder and I jumped.

"I'm sorry about last ni-"

"I'm really not interested in talking about anything except biology." I said quickly.

I looked at the frog that was lying on my lab table with such envy. I wish I could be him right now. Dead. When the bell rang, I gathered my books and left.

At the end of the day, I sat outside of school and waited for Steve, Two-bit, and Pony when Mark came strolling by and thought it would be a good idea to sit next to me.

"Would you please let me explain?"

"No, you make me sick. Bad day or not, that should've never been an excuse to hit me."

"I know that. Pleas just give me one more chance; I don't wanna lose you Jules. You're the best thing in my life."

I thought about what he had said for a moment and against my better judgment I said,

"Alright, but we can't let my brothers or the gang know about this, I'm not supposed to be around you anymore."

I hope I'm doing the right thing.


End file.
